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The one. I like that song. That was a good song. I like that song. That was a good song. First time I heard that, I liked it. Amen. Look at, look at Saint Mark chapter Chapter 1, verse 1. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This is where we're going to focus, and that is the beginning of the gospel. We're going to focus on the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, because This is where Jesus' life began on earth as his ministry is concerned, and this is what ministry is about. And it— there's some things I want to point out, but we're moving into the kingdom of God. This is what this is all about. So the beginning means that this is the origin of how things began in Jesus' life, again, as it relates to his ministry. And if this is how Jesus' ministry began, then this is How our ship began, and if what we're about to read is what Jesus' life was about, then this is what our life should be about. And what we're going to experience here through the gospel helps us to understand that there is an outline and a structure for which God has established how we should build our ministry here on earth, and it has all to do with the kingdom of God. So if you'll drop down. To verse 8, you'll see some things as I point them out. I indeed have baptized you with water, but he has baptized you with the Holy Ghost. There's something that begins taking place in Jesus' life as he accepts his call to ministry and his call to the kingdom. First thing is that he's baptized with water. That is symbolic because He is setting an example, or an ensample, that we should go after or live after and pattern our life after. And that is that water baptism represents an outward profession, an outward declaration that I've made up my mind to live for God. And when I go down in the water, I'm going down as the person I've been all my life up to this point. But when I come up out of the water, I'm coming up as a born-again believer with whom all things are new. All things are now passed away. But it doesn't stop with water baptism. You'll notice that John says he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. So there's another baptism that takes place after the water baptism. That is the baptism of the Holy Ghost or the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which in another translation is called being filled with the Spirit of God. This is very necessary, especially when you're called to the kingdom, because when you're just water baptized and you're not Spirit-filled, you have an outward profession that you're going to live for God. But Jesus said in Acts 1:8 that you shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you, which means there is another impartation, there's another deposit There's another baptism, and it is a baptism of power. And it is necessary to have the baptism of power in your life because when you move forward into the kingdom of God, you're, you're going against principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness in high places, declares Ephesians 6:10-17. And when you're in the kingdom of God, operating in the kingdom of God, Water baptism is not enough to sustain you because you're fighting against another kingdom called the kingdom of darkness. And the Bible says in verse 9, and it came to pass in those days that Jesus came forth from Nazareth of Galilee, and when he was baptized of John in Jordan, straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens open and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him. What's happening here now is that not only has he been baptized in water, baptized with the Holy Ghost, but he now has the presence of God with him. And I need you to know that when you are baptized with the Spirit of God or baptized with the Holy Ghost, from that point on you carry the mantle of God's presence. And it is necessary to have the mantle of God's presence. Presence, or to have God's presence with you 24/7, no matter where you are, at all times. His presence is there. Bow your heads, we're going to pray. Father, I thank you for this opportunity to preach the gospel of the kingdom. God, I'm asking you to minister through me. I can't do this by myself. I can't do it in my own strength. I need you, Holy Spirit. So I thank you that even though we're not perfect, you are perfect. And I thank you that you give us you, which is more than anything that you can give us or any stuff that you can give us. You give us you, and this is what matters the most. Thank you for you. We appreciate the house. We appreciate the car. We appreciate the jobs. We appreciate the money. We appreciate the nice and fine things of life.

Amen.

But the greatest gift that you've given us, along with eternal life, is you've given us you. And it is because you've given us you that you've given us eternal life. Thank you for you, in Jesus' name. Amen. Take your seats, if you will. I want to talk about the kingdom of God. I'm going to pick back up where I left off, but I want to just do a little breakdown for you before I go any further. The kingdom of God, according to Romans 14:17, the Bible says that it's about righteousness, peace, joy, and the Holy Ghost. So the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, which is another part of that verse, which means the kingdom of God is not about materialistic things. It's not about natural things. It's not about physical things. Although God gives us natural things, he gives us physical things. That's not what the kingdom of God is about. The kingdom of God is about righteousness, which means right standings and the right alignment with God. Alignment means that we're in place with God, or in sync, in unison with God, or we're on one accord with God. In order to be on one accord with God, a couple things has to One, you got to have his Spirit. Two, everything. you got to have a mind to want to do things his way. The Bible tells us that in the book of Isaiah chapter 55, uh, verse 6, where God says, your ways are not my ways, your thoughts are not my thoughts. So when we come into the kingdom of God, one of the first things that we do according to Romans 12 is we begin to renew our minds with the word of God, because the transformation of our minds is Help us to be able to see things the way God sees it, to understand things the way God understands it, and to think the way God thinks. Philippians 2:5 says, let this mind that was in Christ Jesus be also in you. That's what righteousness means. It means divine alignment. It means to see things, do things, and want things that God wants. It means to live the way that God would live. It means to come into oneness with God. But there's another kingdom that— or another description of the kingdom of God, which is called the kingdom of heaven. And the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God is one, but there are different terminologies that are used to express the purposes of the kingdom of God. And when it talks about the kingdom of heaven, it's dealing more with salvation. Restoration, sanctification, justification. When you see in the scriptures the kingdom of heaven, that is God's way of saying that when you're in the kingdom of God, your focus is on building the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of God is about joy, peace, righteousness, power, divine authority. Which is what we exercise in the kingdom of God. But when we come into the kingdom of God, which literally means to join God's army, we take on an assignment, and the assignment is the kingdom of heaven. We're focused on expanding the kingdom of heaven. God wants for his kingdom to come or to be fully established. And the way that happens is that we leave off of our own agenda and own purpose of life when we're brought into the kingdom of God, and then we pick up God's agenda, which is to further, to advance, and to establish his kingdom, the kingdom of heaven. That's where souls are won. That's where people get to hear the gospel. That's where we take on the responsibility to make sure that people who we're in contact with knows that there is a God who saves, who loves, who forgives, who heals, who delivers, who restores, who can put people's life back together again. Are you in this place today? But there is another kingdom out there called the kingdom of Satan. And the kingdom of Satan, or the kingdom of darkness, is the kingdom of depravity. It is a kingdom of division. It is a kingdom that comes to bring division to this earth, bring divisions to family, divisions to the kingdom of God. That kingdom is the kingdom that we war against. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 10, uh, verse 3, that though we walk in the flesh, we We don't war after the flesh, which means that though we're in human bodies, our battle is not against one another.

Amen.

We don't fight with one another. We're on the same team, praise God. We're in the same family. We're a part of the same kingdom. We don't fight and war against one another. Our battle is a spiritual battle, which is why Ephesians 6 tells us That we must be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities. This is the kingdom of darkness or Satan kingdom. Against spiritual wickedness in high places, against the rulers of the darkness of this world. Therefore, we must have on what God calls the armor of God, which is our helmet of salvation, Having our breastplate of righteousness, loins girded about with truth, shield of faith, sword of the Spirit, and our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. The kingdom of darkness is a spiritual kingdom, which therefore is invisible to the natural eye, doesn't have flesh and bones, but yet it exists and it is just as real as anything that you can see, touch, taste, hear, and smell. And when God called us out of darkness, 1 Peter 2 tells us that he translated us out of the devil's kingdom into his kingdom, God's kingdom, so that we can establish forth the praise. What is the praise that we establish? It is when God's kingdom is being expanded, people are being converted, people are being brought into a kingdom of victory, and therefore The praise goes to God because he made a positive impact in people's lives through the gospel and through the work that you and I do in his kingdom as we advance the kingdom of heaven.

But then there's this other kingdom, and it's called the kingdoms of this world. And the kingdoms of this world is about money and sex and power and wealth and materialistic gain. In accumulation. And we know it in this country as the American dream. And the kingdoms of this world— And the struggle that really exists in a person's life from day to day is going back from one kingdom to the next, being influenced from one kingdom to the next, having to have an identity of what kingdom I am really a part of, because this world has a way of selling you A dream. A dream, and the dream consists of being successful. The dream consists of having the money that you desire to have, the house you desire to have, the automobiles you desire to have, the career you desire to have, the retirement you desire to have, the lifestyle you desire to have, and it's very easy to fall into that kingdom and begin living your life as a person who Just want to accomplish those things in life before you leave here. And although there's nothing wrong with having all of those things I just named, that is not the purpose of the kingdom of God. That is not the purpose of the kingdom of heaven. And check this: neither is that the purpose by which you were born.

Are you with me so far? Okay.

So. Then there's this thing which is really not a kingdom, but more so an institution, and it's called the church. Okay, so it's called the church, and the institution is something that consists of rules, regulations, laws, bylaws, ordinances, and precepts. And the thing about the church Although God calls us the church, which in the Greek is the word kletos, which means called out, he calls us the church because he wants us to understand that we are a body, we are a family that is created by him. But the thing about the church is that the church is totally different from the kingdom, and the church consists of a breakdown of tradition, rules and regulations, which leads over into doctrine.

But—

The church consists of this thing called the customs of men, which is the ideologies, the precepts, and the concepts of a man's understanding that is now instituted within the function of a group of people. That's where we get all of these different doctrines. You got the doctrines of the Pentecostals, you got the doctrines of the Baptists, you got the doctrines of the Presbyterians, you got the doctrine of the Catholic. You got the doctrines of the Lutherans. You got the doctrines of the non-denominations. And what happens is that we become so, so indoctrinated that we make ministry about what man feels it should be about versus what God has ordained it to be from the very beginning. So the church is this thing that exists, and what we have to do is to overcome the temptation to just do church when God has called us to rise up and build his kingdom.

Yes.

Because when we're doing church, it's just about service, it's just about position, it's just about coming to church— to the house of God, rather. It's just about having a title, it's just about having a name, it's just about recognition, it's just about just doing things. And what God wants is for us to do more than just come to church. He wants us to rise up and become the church. Look at your neighbor and tell them, don't come to church, become the church.

And the, and the church is the family of God that operates in the kingdom of God. Establishing the kingdom of heaven.

Now, as I said in verse one, and as I read in verse one, this is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This is how Jesus began his life, and everything Jesus did was for an example, which many of you may understand the sample to be to be example.

But Jesus operated so that he can teach us. How to do things in this world, not as a human, but as a Christian.

People are born humans naturally, but are not born Christians naturally. We're born again as Christians naturally.

Okay, so going back to this again, verse eight says, "I baptize you with water." That's what John the Baptist said. So water baptism is necessary when you enter into the kingdom. The reason is because John chapter three tells us that. Except you're born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God or understand the kingdom of God, which means to have a definitive understanding of what the kingdom is about and how to operate within it. Then he talks about the baptism of the Holy Ghost, which sometimes people suggest that the sign that a person has been filled with the Holy Ghost is through the evidence of speaking in tongue.

Through my study and my research, I have found that though that may be an initial sign, it is not the only sign. There are many signs associated when a person is filled with the Holy Spirit.

It's not just speaking in tongues.

In fact, many people have failed to realize that when the Spirit of God, Holy Ghost, came upon the earth on the day of Pentecost and filled the people in the room, and they began to speak in a other tongue, it was not the tongue that we perceive it to be.

It was not the tongue that we understand.

It was not a heavenly language, in other words. It was not the Mokodo Bashi Kandada Boko Shata. It was none of that. It was really the translation of the gospel in a language that people who were not of a certain language, a certain tongue, could understand that God's kingdom had been extended And expanded with an open door so that all men of all nations, all creed, all ethnic group, all nationalities could be brought into the kingdom of God without discrimination and without condemnation. Amen.

And it gave everybody who were gathered in that place, which were over 3,000 of many different nationalities, it gave all of them the right to hear that Jesus would die for each and every person, that he would give his life For the entire world, for the sins of the world, not just the Jews, not just the Hebrews, not just the Israelites, but for everybody who would believe on the only begotten Son of God. So being filled with the Holy Ghost gives you the right to operate in kingdom authority because there is a kingdom authority that we operate in, and this kingdom authority is not like any authority that exists in this earth. It's not a governmental authority. It's not a household authority. It's not the authority of armed forces. It's not the authority of any physical institution that exists. The government of the heavens or the government of the kingdom of God is a government that rules over the government of this world.

Does that make sense to you?

In other words, God's authority is the highest authority in earth.

There's no higher authority.

Okay, he has the Spirit of God dwelling on him in verse 10, confirming that he's not operating alone, but that he is reinforced by all of heaven and that he is one with his Father God.

Talking about Jesus.

In verse number 11, the Bible says, then there comes a voice from heaven saying, thou art my beloved Son. This voice is there to implement that he now has his confirmation that God is establishing on his behalf. What that means is that you don't have to try to prove to anybody that you are a child of God. God himself establishes on your behalf that you are his child. The Bible says in the book of Romans, and I believe it's Romans 8:14, that the Spirit bears witness that we are the sons of God. So listen to this right here. You don't have to prove to anybody that you're a Christian. I believe it's Romans 8:14. And one of the things that have totally been misconstrued and misconcepted Is that people suggest that if you're a Christian, then you gotta be perfect. You don't have to prove to anybody that you're a Christian. And it is a discouragement to many people because people know there's no perfect people living on this planet. And if I have to be perfect to be a Christian, then I might as well not be a Christian because I'm not perfect. And it is a deception, and it is a discrimination, and it drives people away from the kingdom of God. Because we make people feel like we got it all together, and you and I know that's not the case. That's a lie. We do not have it all together. In fact, I've come to understand that when Jesus' names are given in the Bible, the translation of Jesus' names is relative to the situations that we find ourselves in. Like one of the scriptures tells us that he is the Messiah, and the Messiah on a broken-down term Represents the one who cleanses humans' mess. Messiah, M-E-S-S-I-A. He specializes in cleansing messes. Who are the messes?

We are the messes.

Who makes the mess? We make the mess, and we have to have a Messiah who comes behind us and cleans up the mess that we make in our lives. How many of you know you can't do it without Jesus? Amen. And so therefore, if he is the Messiah, then he's the perfect one who cleanses up the mess of the imperfect one. If he's perfect, I don't have to be. What I do have to be is sincere, genuine. If I was in the hood, I would say, man, you got to be real about this thing, because that's what God requires of us. So, you know, when, when we look at the fact that he is confirming that Jesus is his Son, we also have that same confirmation that we are sons of God, that we are his children. We're not his perfect children, we're his beloved children. None of my children are perfect, but yet they're all loved of their father.

Amen.

None of the members of this church are perfect, but they're all loved of their pastor. None of my homeboys and my friends in life are perfect, but they're all loved of me. In other words, you don't have to be perfect in order for me to love you. You just have to be real about being real.

Amen.

Look at your neighbor and tell them, be real about being real. Be real about being real. And so he has the water baptism, he has the spiritual baptism, he has the presence of God on him, and He has the voice of God in his life, and the voice of God in your life is very important, Elder Fisher. The voice of God in your life is so important that you can't navigate through life without God's voice. God's voice is your GPS system. It is necessary to be able to hear, and you don't always hear his voice frequently, but when you need it, it's there for you. When you're at a crossroad, it's there for you. When you're halted between two decisions, it's there for you. When you don't know what to do, stand still and see the salvation. God's voice will be in your corner when you need it. It's not a loud voice, it's not a boisterous voice, it's not a forceful voice, it's not a demanding voice, it's not a voice of criticism, it's not a voice of discrimination, it is not a voice of condemnation, it is a voice of guidance. It is there so that when you need to go in the right direction, lean not to your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he shall guide you. Direct your path. Jesus has the voice of God in his life. And verse 11, lean not to your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your path. Jesus has the voice of God in his life.

And verse 11.

From verse 1 down through verse 11, and then when it gets to verse 12, the Bible says And which is a conjunction, which is engrafting what was previously said to what is about to be said and making it to become one. And immediately the Spirit, which is the Holy Ghost, drives him, which is Jesus, into the wilderness. The wilderness.

It's not a place where folk would generally hang out.

In fact, when God talks about the wilderness in the Old Testament, he talks about how that the Israelites were in the wilderness for 40 years. And the wilderness, as we know, is a place that is known for trials, trying, and temptation. And the Bible says, and Jesus Is driven into the wilderness, and he's there for 40 days, but he's not alone. Of course, he has the Spirit and the presence of God with him, but the Bible says that the devil is there. Satan is in the wilderness, and there are wild beasts there. And wild beasts symbolically represents demonic forces.

Satan is in the wilderness.

So something is going on because not only do you see the kingdom of darkness represented in the wilderness, but the Bible also say that the angels are there, which is the kingdom of God. So in the wilderness you have the presence of the kingdom of God And the kingdom of Satan. And the purpose of this is because there's a war going on.

Warfare. Which means anytime you find yourself in the wilderness, it means you're in a state of warfare.

On one side you have the kingdom of God fighting for you, and then on the other side you got the kingdom of darkness fighting against you. And the impact that it has on your life is that the entire battle is over you. One side is trying to pull you this way, and the other side is trying to pull you that way, and you're caught up in the middle of a tug-of-war. In fact, you become the rope that the tug-of-war consists of. That's why you will find that when you're trying to focus on the kingdom of God, That's right. You have the temptation of Satan presenting before you the kingdoms of this world, which is exactly what Jesus was dealing with. As I said earlier, the kingdoms of this world consist of houses, cars, money, power, sex, wealth, materialistic accumulation. Your warfare is not always over the devil trying to steal your sanity, as some— or steal your peace and your joy. As some would suggest. This particular warfare is over the fact that Satan is trying to get Jesus to be earthly-minded versus heavenly-minded, to have his focus on natural success versus kingdom success. So when you find yourself struggling with trying to put God first and then you first, It means that you're in a state of warfare between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. When you find yourself pursuing after your own dreams and your own ambitions, you find yourself in a warfare. You're in a state of warfare.

Are you with me? And the kingdom of darkness.

Now, in verse 14, the Bible says after John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. So listen to this. He comes out of the wilderness into the city, having just overcome the temptation of the enemy, and now he's being endorsed. In other words, God is saying you are now qualified because you passed the test. To preach the gospel of the kingdom, to be an impact to people all over this world.

How do you know that you are ready to make an impact in this world?

How do you know that your time has come for God to use you as an influence to other people?

How do you know?

Here's how you know. When you've been water baptized, filled with the Spirit, Have the presence of God on your life, have the voice of God in your life, pass the test in your wilderness experience, and came out with a made-up mind that it's all about the kingdom of God. Oh, what I'm saying to you is that when you've been through some things in life and you didn't think you were going to survive those things, God gives you the grace to be able to run on and see what the end is going to be. Listen, I don't know if you're feeling me right now, but there comes a place in your life where when you wake up in the morning, you know it's not about just making it through this day. It's not about just going to work. It's not about going to school. It's not about cooking dinner. It's not about cleaning the house. It's not about doing your chores. It's not about saying hello to your peeps. It's not about just watching TV. It's not about being on Facebook. It's not about being on the internet. Your purpose in life has a lot more dignity than just existing. It has all to do with you being able to make an impact in this world that will far outlive your living in this world. Can I get an amen right there?

Amen.

He comes out of the wilderness And he's preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. He's saying to the devil, you couldn't stop me then and you can't stop me now. You hit me with your best shot and yet I'm still here. You took me in the wilderness and you showed me the kingdoms of this world. You tried to tempt me with money. You tried to tempt me with this. You tried to tempt me with that. You tried to put prestige before me. You put all of these glamorous things before me. You tried to get me to live after being rich. You tried to get me to go after gold and silver and diamonds and platinum. But yet I recognize that my purpose in life consists not of the things of this world or the abundance of this world, but my purpose in this world is to establish my Father's kingdom.

And therefore I'm coming forth preaching the gospel to everybody. Let them know that what I did, you can do. As I am in this world, so are you. Greater is he that is in you than he that is in this world. And if I can survive the temptation of the enemy in the wilderness, then you can survive the temptation of the enemy In the wilderness, because the power that is on me is the power that is on you, and therefore I'm going to fill you with my spirit, help you to be able to operate in divine authority so that you can overcome every adversary and every adversity that the enemy sends against you. Will you look at your neighbor and tell him, "I got power"? Oh, Jesus!

I feel like preaching a little bit in here.

One more time, look at your neighbor and tell them it's about the kingdom of God.

All right, give me, give me 5 more minutes. I'm gonna preach a little bit. He comes forth preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. But check this out, here's what the gospel or the message consists of. Verse 15, saying that the time is fulfilled. Which is to suggest that the moment that you've been waiting on, your moment of breakthrough, your time of victory, your season that you said is going to change, the time of your deliverance, the time for overcoming, the time for being empowered— that time has come.

That time is now. Which means, ladies and gentlemen, that no matter how long you've been tied down, no matter how long you've been tied up, no matter how long you've been broke down, no matter how long you've been broken up. It's your time to rise and overcome everything that has limited your purpose in this world.

Jesus, the kingdom of God is at hand. The door is open to make a transition into the kingdom. The door is open for you to be converted and to be translated And therefore he says all you got to do is these 2 things. Number one, repent. Say, God, I'm sorry.

Amen.

Look at your neighbor and tell them, don't run from that word. Don't run from that word. Don't run from it. Don't run from it. That word is your best friend. That word is your grace. That word is the mercies of God extended on your life. Everybody in here got to be able to say from their heart, God, I'm sorry. I didn't always do things the way you want me to do it. I still don't always do things the way you want me to do it. I know I fall short of your glory. Yes, I see it. Yes, I mess up. Yes, I think things I shouldn't think. Yes, I say things I shouldn't say. Yes, I do things I shouldn't do.

But I'm so glad that there's this thing called grace, which means that you look beyond my faults and you recognize my needs and you still give me an opportunity to be amongst that number when the saints Go marching in.

I wish I had some folk that would get past religion, get past suspicion, get past trying to suspect what the next man got going on, and just thank God for a moment that you are able to still say, God, I'm sorry.

God, I'm sorry.

God, I'm sorry.

Oh, y'all wanna— y'all wanna be a little stuck up in here this morning.

If I can get 3 people to look up to heaven and say, God, I'm sorry. God, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I made life about me. I'm sorry that I made it about my own agenda. I'm sorry that I made it about my own plans. I'm sorry that I made it about my business. I'm sorry that I made it about my family. I'm sorry that I made it about my marriage. I'm sorry that I made it about my career. I'm sorry that I made it about money. I'm sorry that I made it about me looking good. I'm sorry because all along it should have been about you. And if you give me another chance, I'm gonna make it about you. I'm gonna tell everybody that it wasn't I that did it. It wasn't my daddy. It wasn't my mama. It wasn't my preacher. It wasn't my doctor. It wasn't my lawyer. It was God who did it in my life.

He says, repent and believe the gospel, which means when the word comes across, you can't sit there and struggle with it. You can't do it like you do fruit at the fruit stand. You can't pick it up and turn it around and squeeze it and look at it and then put it down and pick it back up and flip it over and turn it around and squeeze it to look at it to see if you want to take this one home with you or not.

When the gospel is being preached, And the serving tray comes your way, you got to reach out and start grabbing whatever it is that you can get, because you recognize that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And when you believe the gospel, your faith comes alive.

But Pastor didn't preach what I wanted to preach on, and he ain't supposed to. He's supposed to preach what you need him to preach on. And sometimes, most of the time, if not all the time, what you need ain't necessarily what you want. I'm getting happy all by myself up here. And then what you want ain't necessarily what you need.

And God said, "Don't you discriminate when it comes to my word. Just grab it and recognize that man should not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

Repent and believe the gospel." And the word gospel is the word good news, which means. Preacher, don't beat me up with the Bible now. Don't make me feel small and insignificant and insecure. I already got my struggles. When I come to the church, I don't come to get beat up. I don't come to be judged by my peers. I don't come to be made to feel like I'm an outcast or that I can't qualify. Preacher, don't beat me up. People, don't beat me up. Brother, don't beat me up with the word now. Don't try to judge me. Get out of my business. You're not a private investigator. Get out. Sister, don't try to judge me. You got your own stuff. You got your own mess. Repent and believe the gospel. And I don't have time to go into the next part of this, but one of the things that has to happen is that church has to become a place where we can come in and learn how to build the gospel, or how to preach the gospel and build the kingdom. Authority comes from being kingdom-minded. Victory comes from being kingdom-minded. There's going to be times in your life where you're going to have to focus on family. You're going to have to focus on children, marriages, careers, businesses, your household function, the order of your house. Saving money, investing money, making investments, buying properties, buying cars. That there's a place, there's an allotment of time that God issues to everyone, but he doesn't want for your life to consist of how much you can do in this world for yourself, but how much you can do in this world for his kingdom. And if you wake up in the morning saying, God, how can I serve you today? God will rise up in the evening and say, my child, how may I serve you today? Which is why, as I fast forward, Matthew 6:33 says, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness And then all these things in life shall be added. As I close with this final statement, over the 20-plus years of living this life, if there's one thing I've discovered, and you hear me say it all the time, it is this: if you take care of God's business, God will take care There's no greater truth that I have discovered. The way you receive from God is by letting God receive from you. And what can we give him that he hasn't first given us?

The only thing we can give him is ourselves, our time, our worship, our gifts, our purpose, our life.

We'll just stand Jesus, hallelujah! And we thank you that although we are not all